BRAND STRATEGY

Luxury brands are adapting to embrace a total commerce experience

By our News Team | 2022

Winning with upmarket shoppers requires the delivery of seamless online and offline brand experiences for customers.

Few sectors were more shaken by the events of the last two years than the luxury brand world. But the sector has adapted and realised that winning with upmarket shoppers requires the delivery of seamless online and offline brand experiences for customers across an omnichannel journey.

In a recent column for the industry publication Ad Week, Carl Preller, Managing Partner for Tag Americas Retail & Shopper Marketing, lists several key principles that brands from the luxury sector have implemented to successfully deliver a total commerce experience. Among them:

Photo by Eva Klanduchova from Pexels

Think experience, not just product

Luxury brands aren’t just selling products, they are also selling an opportunity to momentarily slip into an ‘out of reach’ world.

While this has always been true in their marketing, the rise of digital technologies has created a multitude of new ways to deliver luxury experiences. The most iconic luxury brands such as Burberry and Gucci are leading the charge into a world of digital brand experiences – including AI-driven CRM personalisation, augmented reality and even gamification – not to mention the future potential for these luxury brands to enter the Metaverse.

Communicate your commitment to good

Any brand hoping to win with the Millennial and Gen Z shopper needs to embrace purpose; this is even truer for luxury brands.

The Millennial shopper will soon account for the majority of all luxury purchases and brands wishing to earn their loyalty need to authentically do good in the world.

Across the industry we are seeing a huge focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives and marketing. Brands like Tiffany & Co. (luxury jewellery and specialty retailing) and Stella McCartney (designer clothing) are leading the industry into a more sustainable, socially responsible place and are being rewarded by this generation of shopper.

Be selective about the environments you enter

Where you choose to not be is just as important as where you choose to be. Building luxury brands means making the choice to not be in a channel or specific store environments that don’t deliver enough of a premium experience.

The industry reset has provided luxury brands and retailers with a unique opportunity to realign their distribution strategies. The story of the great downsizing of the department store channel has many villains but, at its heart, is also a story about a channel not staying true to its core.

Read the full article here.

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